At a virtual press conference during CES 2022, AMD, one of the world’s largest CPU and GPU manufacturers, announced a series of releases across its product range. The announcements related to new mobile processors, desktop processors and graphics cards, along with enhancements to the company’s CPU and GPU software.
Ryzen 6000
The new Ryzen 6000 series mobile CPUs announced at CES 2022 will appeal to gamers, content creators and users seeking thin, light laptops, according to AMD. Based on TSMC’s 6-nanometer (nm) manufacturing process and AMD’s new Zen 3+ architecture, the new chips support up to 24-hour battery life thanks to 50 new power management features, according to the company. The chips will be available this February across more than 200 premium laptops.
The new chips come with AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics architecture to deliver improved gaming performance and support DDR5 memory as well as PCIe 4.0 and USB4 connectivity.
The U-series for ultrathin laptops is headlined by the Ryzen 7 6800U, which features eight cores, 16 threads, a maximum boost of 4.7GHz, a base frequency of 2.7GHz, a combined L2 and L3 cache of 20 MB, 12 GPU cores, a maximum graphics frequency of 2.2GHz and a TDP range of 15 to 28 watts.
The H-series is led by the Ryzen 9 6980HX, with eight cores, 16 threads, a maximum boost frequency of 5GHz, a base frequency of 3.3GHz, a combined L2 and L3 cache of 20 MB, 12 GPU cores, a maximum graphics frequency of 2.4GHz and a thermal design power of 45 or more watts. The headline processor offers AMD’s “fastest clock frequencies” yet, according to David McAfee, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD’s client business unit.
“World’s fastest gaming processor”
Also announced at CES 2022 and available this spring, the new Ryzen 7 5800X3D desktop CPU is, according to AMD, the “world’s fastest gaming processor”, and will provide, on average, 15 percent faster performance for gaming compared with the Ryzen 9 5900X.
Watch Dogs: Legion saw up to a 40 percent performance improvement when comparing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D to the Ryzen 9 5900X. The 3-D chip also saw up to a 20 percent improvement for Far Cry 6, Gears 5 and Final Fantasy XIV.
AMD considers the Ryzen 7 5800X3D a victory against Intel, based on a limited testing results, half of which showed AMD in the lead. The 3-D chip was 20 percent faster for Final Fantasy XIV and 10 percent faster for Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 6, according to AMD. The chips tied for Watch Dogs: Legion, Gears 5 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
In addition to its 100-MB cache, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D offers eight cores, 16 threads, a 4.5GHz boost frequency, a 3.4GHz base frequency and a 105-watt thermal design power.
5GHz on all cores
AMD’s new generation of Ryzen desktop processors, announced at CES 2020, will release in the second half of this year, and the company claimed that the CPUs will be capable of pushing 5GHz on all cores. The Ryzen 7000 series will use the company’s Zen 4 architecture on a 5nm manufacturing process and will arrive in the second half of 2022 alongside the new AM5 LGA1718 socket for motherboards that will enable new capabilities like DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 connectivity.
New laptop GPUs
AMD announced an expansion to its Radeon RX 6000 graphics lineup with eight new GPUs for laptops and two new graphics cards for desktop PCs.
The new Radeon RX 6850M XT provides 7 percent faster performance on average than the Radeon RX 6800M, according to AMD. The company said the new Radeon RX 6650M XT, which is complemented by the also new Radeon RX 6650M, provides a 20 percent boost over the existing Radeon 6600M.
The new Radeon RX 6500M and 6300M are new entry-level GPU options, with the former offering up to 200 percent faster performance than Nvidia’s GeForce MX450, AMD said.
The chipmaker also introduced a new mobile graphics lineup for ultrathin laptops, the Radeon RX 6000S series. These GPUs are optimized for power efficiency, and they include new technologies that optimize them for performance per watt in thin laptops.
Desktop GPUs
During its CES 2022 announcement, AMD stated that it is adding two new graphics cards to its existing desktop lineup: The Radeon RX 6500 XT and the Radeon RX 6400. The company presented the Radeon RX 6500 XT as a midrange option, offering a performance boost over Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1650 by 20 percent to 60 percent in select titles, according to AMD. The Radeon RX 6500 XT will be available from January 19 at a starting price of $199. The Radeon RX 6400 will only be available in prebuilt systems starting in the first half of this year.
Software and Smart Technologies
The company announced a series of software updates during CES 2022. AMD claimed to be updating its software suite for Radeon graphics with new features that will bring spatial upscaling to thousands of games. The new Radeon Super Resolution, is powered by AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution technology, and uses upscaling techniques to improve game performance at near-native monitor resolutions.
Other features in the AMD Software release include a new version of AMD Link, which lets users play PC games on other devices from anywhere, and AMD Privacy View technology, which uses head- and eye-tracking technology from Eyeware to “deliver increased levels of privacy,” according to the company.
AMD is also expanding the capabilities of its Smart Technologies, with the Ryzen 6000 series now utilizing the company’s Smart Access Memory technology. AMD has also enhanced AMD SmartShift, now known as AMD SmartShift Max, to support a broader range of games and double performance across select titles when pairing certain Ryzen CPUs and Radeon GPUs.
The chipmaker also introduced a new technology called SmartShift Eco that it claimed can double gaming time on a laptop’s battery when using a system that has a Radeon RX 6850M XT GPU and an AMD Ryzen 6900H Series CPU.
AMD recently extended its agreement to continue receiving semiconductors from Abu Dhabi-backed GlobalFoundries.
